Family barbershop's 50-year history a cut above the rest

by Luci Scott - Oct. 3, 2012 10:24 AMThe Republic | azcentral.com

After a half century, old style remains very much in style at Nash's Valley Fair Barber Shop in Tempe, where the emphasis is on keeping it simple in the name of customer service and business efficiency.

While the shop at 115 E. Southern Ave. keeps up-to-date with hairstyles, it clings to useful elements of the past, including a rotary phone, a 50-year-old cash register and cash-only payments.

Nash's, on the southeastern corner of Mill and Southern avenues, is run by a family of three generations of barbers: Daniel Armijo Jr., Daniel Armijo Sr. and the patriarch, Nash Armijo, the shop's founder.

When Nash opened the shop in 1962, people asked him why he'd put a barbershop so far out.

"This was really the edge of town," Daniel Sr. said.

"For me and my friends, this was the end of the world," he recalled. "We'd ride bikes to get soda pop and candies. My dad handed out candies to the kids, and a lot of the kids really remember that."

By 1962, a Hispanic-family business faced no difficulty getting started, Daniel Sr. said his father told him.

"I don't remember him having any problems," he said.

The clientele was half Hispanic and half Anglo, which holds true today.

Credit cards didn't last long at Nash's. The shop tried modernizing by using them, but Daniel Sr. described the banks as sharks.

"They're just out to nickel-and-dime you to death," he said.

What has posed a challenge the past eight years is the severe slump in the economy.

"It's kind of at a standstill. It's not getting any worse, and not getting any better," Daniel Sr. said.

For a man's haircut, age 12 and older, the cost is $14.Kids' cuts are $11. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, senior citizens pay $11.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the shop is treating students from Arizona State University to $2 off through Jan. 1.

"Plus we always have supported the troops, and we always have had a $2 discount for active military," said Daniel Sr., who served in the U.S. Air Force.

Regular customers who are getting married get a free haircut.

"We call it the 'Dead Man Walking,' " Daniel Sr. said.

Patrons are getting their hair cut shorter and letting it grow longer, extending time between cuts.

Also, it didn't help when the Valley Fair shopping center lost its 100-foot sign, festooned with big colorful balloons, which Daniel Sr. attributes to Tempe's strict sign policies.

"You could see it a block or two away," he said. "Now we rely on word of mouth."

Although hair styles have changed, the family has tried to keep the barbershop what Daniel Sr. calls "old style" and perform services the chains don't.

"None of them use straight razors, none give facial shaves or shave around ears," he said. "That's why we have stayed alive. We're still staying old style."

He says some of the barbers' best memories are of their youngest customers.

"We saw them as kids and then saw them grow up and bring in their kids."

The shop used to have a barber pole out front, but it disappeared years ago.

A replacement has been purchased but has yet to be installed. This one will go inside the shop, he said.

The shop's staff has a long history in Arizona. Two barbers are Tempe High School alumni. Ruben Verdugo graduated in 1960, and Dan Armijo Sr. in 1975. Nash Armijo, a native of Williams, was appointed by Gov. Raul Castro to the board governing the barbers' profession in 1975, a position he held for three years.

Over the years, the shop sponsored baseball and football teams. Its baseball team regularly played against Ladmo's team, from the beloved, long-running "Wallace and Ladmo" TV show. Pictures of Wallace and Ladmo still adorn the shop's walls.

The barbers have a rotary phone, but if they make a call and become trapped in voicemail and have to punch keys for options, they use a cellphone.

The original cash register is still used.

"We tried newer machines, but by the end of the day, the tape was 8 feet long" and a waste of paper, Daniel Sr. said. The paper was cluttered with such unnecessary verbiage, such as "welcome," "have a good day," and the time and date.